Coastal and Marine Management Research Group

Research areas:

Human activities, interventions and measures in coastal and marine systems

Objective is to understand how the coastal and marine systems are influenced by human measures and interventions, to give advice how to minimize negative impacts and pressures on the ecosystem. The aim is to maintain major ecosystem services and to support a sustainable planning and management.

Implementation of marine and coastal policy

National and international environmental policy are an important challenge for science. We provide a sound scientific basis for the implementation of coastal and marine policies.

Regional Change – impacts, response and adaptation

Climate Change, increasing pressure by human activities, as well as land-use changes in the river basins affect coastal and marine systems. Our assessment of future changes and their consequences on coastal and marine ecosystems provides the scientific basis for adaptation measures and provokes a future oriented management and planning.

Our research is focused on applied research driven by societal and political demands and in close co-operation with end-users and stakeholders. The multi-disciplinary approach maintains close co-operations with social, economic and engineering sciences as well as NGO’s and private enterprises. The focus is to ensure synergies and gain mutual benefits of scientific progress and practical experience. A thematic flexibility and a fast response to new challenges characterizes our work, which largely relies on external funding.

Major topics:

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) – Further development and application of a Systems Approach Framework (SAF) as well as tools and strategies for supporting a sustainable coastal management and planning.

Ecosystem services & indicators – Development and application of methods and tools to assess changes in ecosystem goods service provision as well as to measure the success of management measures in coastal and marine systems based on indicators.

Marine Litter – Development of monitoring methods and strategies as well as indicators and pollution thresholds. Further, assessment of the state of pollution, spatial transport pattern and the effectiveness of measures with the aim to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).

Bathing Water Quality – Analysis and assessment of bathing water quality, potential pollutants and human pathogens, like vibrions.

Eco-technologies – Assessment and implementation of measures that improve the ecological status of coastal waters and support environmental policies, like the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

The EUCC – Baltic States office in Klaipeda is a major co-operation partner and helps to bridge the gap between coastal science and practice. A close co-operation exists with the Leibniz-Institute for Baltic Sea Research in Warnemünde, Germany.